Member

It needs to stay somewhere on the cheap side - I put down for €50-60, working on the basis that the service includes pick up at the airport, help with bags and transport all the way to the albergues in Sarria and O'Cebreiro.

Actually, costing it out like that, I probably should have voted for a slightly higher figure; it's a balance of how much avoiding the hassle of an extra night and quite a bit of walking before you can get to the starting point of your pilgrimage (and the additional costs) offsets the chance to experience Santiago while still relatively fresh.

A couple of additional things to consider would be:

1. Would you offer a discount for extra people (benefitting those travelling as a group) or try to keep the rate lower but going up at a flat rate per person?

2. One thing I did in Santiago was get a few supplies for the walk (trail snacks) that I hadn't wanted to carry on the plane; a chance to stop at a supermarket would be a useful bonus. People starting in Sarria have a whole town to shop in but O'Cebreiro is fairly limited for supplies.

Member

I think that the time spent on figuring out how to get there and making all the arrangements is worth a lot. I was wondering if this was to be an on demand service or a scheduled service? To me the big thing is that it would avoid the time and expenses in Santiago. So it would need to preclude that. I think that it is worth exploring. What would a taxi charge to do this today? John

Administrator

Thanks for good feedback! The idea would be to set up a "on demand" service with booking online before you leave home.

Regarding taxi prices, I have talked to a few taxidrivers in Santiago and they quoted me ca. 105,- euro from Santiago to Sarria and about 160 euro to O Cebreiro. For Sundays and holidays add 20% (not sure about saturdays and late at night on weekdays).

This is not a fixed price, but someting that needs to be negotiated with each taxi driver before entering the taxi. So the prices above would be an indication and nothing more...

Thanks agian for good feedback and if anyone have more thoughts on this please post them here.

Moderator

I was not sure if I was voting for a per person rate or per vehicle. Obviously there would be a difference between the two so my vote may have been placed at the too cheap end as I worked on a per person rate.

New Member

As a comparison in 2005 my wife and I took a taxi from Pamplona airport to Roncessvalles (pre booked through Radio Taxi Pamplona on the web) and the cost including two bikes (they sent a mini van) was 30 euro per person. Of course the distance is much less.

Veteran Member

Ivar, don't forget to include considerations for the cost of maintenance, gas, & insurance on your vehicle. You may want to base the times of your trips on when the flights arrive & drive time to/from Sarria & O'C. That way, you could get more passengers. An early morning run & a late afternoon run, perhaps? You might want to also offer some service on the return trip so you're not heading home "empty." Maybe an airport shuttle service for Sarria & O'C?

Member

I think it is a great idea, especially with the fact that people can get a good measure of you by your interaction on this site (ie. I'd certainly trust you to get me from the airport to the starting point of my walk if I was planning another trip).

Administrator

What I have realized during my 2 years in Galicia is that if I want a job I would need to create it. It is almost impossible to get anything if you are looking around in local businesses. I have experience IT experience from Silicon Valley, but this counts for nothing here... since firms would rather hire "family or friends"... you CV does not matter. That's my experience anyway... I have run my own IT consulting so far, and it goes quite well but I would like to expand into tourism and maybe get some employees.

I know many of you do not like the fact of trying to make money on the pilgrimage, since the whole experience is far away from the daily life of money, costs, expenses and worries... it is a more spiritual experience. But I hope that if I can offer a service that is useful and to a price that is reasonable it will be a good thing.

As I have said, it is still early on and there are a lot of permits and paperwork that needs to be done before anything will be offered. March is the first spring month with a big increase in pilgrims so maybe I will aim for that. We will see.

Veteran Member

Ivar, I don't think people should mind if you made a fair profit. After all, you shouldn't have to go broke providing a service. I don't expect the people who run hostels & services along the Camino to go broke or stay poor just because I'm on a pilgrimage. Obscene profits are one thing, but making a fair profit so that you can provide for yourself & your family are not the same thing.

Veteran Member

It is almost impossible to get anything if you are looking around in local businesses. I have experience IT experience from Silicon Valley, but this counts for nothing here... since firms would rather hire "family or friends"... you CV does not matter.

you're probably in a bad part of Spain for that. If you were in, say, Madrid or Barcelona, which are much more cosmopolitan and where foreign businesses and business people are more common, I would imagine your experience would be different. Though Galicia, or at any rate Santiago, gets lots of tourists now, it is not really used to having outsiders (from elsewhere in Spain, let alone from abroad) moving in and trying to settle. The tradition is the opposite - for Galicians to leave Galicia and look for work elsewhere.

As for your project, why limit this to the Camino Frances? Fisterra, Tui or even Porto, Ferrol, Corunna, really, anywhere people want to go. Or if the CSJ for example has a do on in Miraz or Rabanal, transportation for a group of people could be very useful.

I think you should charge on a journey basis rather than per person. Your costs are per journey. If you only have 1 person on board, they would have to pay enough to cover your costs, which could be quite large depending on how you assign your overheads (depreciation of the vehicle, etc). Plus, consider combining people arriving on different flights - not practical for flights arriving at widely different times, but if a flight from say, London, arrives 30 mins before one from Hahn . . .

I thought of this, but then you as a customer will not know how much you will be paying at the time you reserve the trip. You know that it will not be more than x euros, but still. It would be great for me, but not sure how the customer would like it.

consider combining people arriving on different flights - not practical for flights arriving at widely different times

Thought of this. It seems like a departure to Sarria at 17.00 would be good (good for me anyway, maybe that would leave all my customers sleeping on the floor at the albergue in Sarria that night?). That means that I only miss the plane that arrives from Rome (at 20.20). A 21.00 departure would be quite late anyway.

With one vehicle that would mean the morning would be free for a Tui, Fisterra, Porto route.

New Member

Hi Ivar: We are two who arrive May 23, 2017 in Santiago de Compostela and will need transportation to either Sarria or O Cebreiro. Your thought for providing transportation from Santiago airport to Sarria (and surrounds) was in 2004. Anything develop? Thanks...mm

Veteran Member

Ivar
Thinking of other Camino trails, how hard would it be to include drop off /pickup locations where different Caminos intersect? Take the Madrid up to Leon intersection where you can walk north to Ovidio then to Santiago as an example. It might increase the rides That for me would increase my willing to spend 100e. I don't know if you are aware but flights to London Gatwick from western Canada are a bargain. Then to Santiago & back. This has some very interesting possibilities for the return pilgrims who want easy access to other routes. Your startup would literally take income to very quiet parts of Spain.
Thanks for all you do
Keith

W

whariwharangi

Guest

Hi Ivar: We are two who arrive May 23, 2017 in Santiago de Compostela and will need transportation to either Sarria or O Cebreiro. Your thought for providing transportation from Santiago airport to Sarria (and surrounds) was in 2004. Anything develop? Thanks...mm